The Imagery of Music

James Newton Howard scores M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening

Posted on March 15, 2008 by Dan Goldwasser

Oscar-nominated composer James Newton Howard was recently at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, CA to record his score to the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan thriller The Happening. This marks the sixth time the two creative talents have collaborated.

Conducting a 90-piece orchestra was Pete Anthony, who also orchestrated on the score along with Jeff Atmajian, Jon Kull and Brad Dechter. Cellist Maya Beiser performed cello solos on the score, with additional solos performed by Andrew Schulman on cello, and Roger Wilke on violin.

In the control room, scoring mixer Alan Meyerson brought out a rich sound from the orchestra, bringing the soloists out over the orchestra. Jeff Atmajian and James Newton Howard would give feedback to the orchestra, as music editors Jim Weidman and David Olson tracked their progress. ProTools recording was handled by Kevin Globerman, and Technical Score Advisors Chris Bacon and Stuart Thomas were also on hand to lend support.